The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. He develops toward him self a kindly sense of humor and learns to say, “Oh, so you have been overlooked? They have placed someone else before -you? They have whispered that you are pretty small stuff after all? And now you feel hurt because the world is saying about you the very things you have been saying about yourself? Only yesterday you were telling God that you were nothing, a mere worm of the dust. Where is your consistency? Come on, humble yourself, and cease to care what men think.”
The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In, himself… nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto.
- AW Tozer
The Pursuit of God
Archive for June, 2007
Read
Listen
Gospel Centered Ministry - Tim Keller
Pursuit of Holiness - Jerry Bridges
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 Missing
Part 4
Part 5
Download
Interlinear Scripture Analyzer
Watch
How to avoid getting ripped off by a mechanic
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
16:1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. (ESV)
Jesus prophetically tells his disciples what they can expect by following him:
1. The world will hate you
2. The religious leaders will persecute you
He encourages them with news that this is part of Gods plan [25] and that Jesus words will be authenticated by the spirit [26] and the disciples would also bear witnesses when they become endowed with the ability to do great miracles in his name [27].
Jesus tells the disciples this information by way of encouragement knowing the toil they will face at the hands of the religious leaders.[16:1]
Christian Carnival is a blog-magazine. The host collects posts for the week and displays them on his or her blog. This week the carnival is hosted at Chasing The Wind.
I posted earlier about how teaching our children scripture is a double blessing: we are teaching them the word of the Lord and we are learning it better ourselves, having the opportunity to recite it and explain it to them. In our nightly routine my 5 year old and I also spend a few minutes going through a catechism for girls and boys. This has been an amazing experience for both of us for the same reason. She opens up with all kinds of questions and I’m put on the spot to try to explain theological truths in a manner she can understand.
Drinking from the Fire Hose
This is not to say she understands all that we talk about, or even 10% of what she has memorized, neither is it to say I do a great job explaining it, but as she gets older these things begin to sink in. Recently she has been very interested in how “God is spirit and has not a body like man” and how “God is everywhere”, which has led to many long discussions about how God is always present and knows everything yet is separate from his creation. She is totally blown away by this concept and we’ve talked about some of the many implications (he is always there when you are afraid, he knows every thought, he can hear prayers, etc.)
Here are some techniques I’ve been using when dealing with her questions:
- Think through your answer
Does it make sense to her age? Is there something about it she is obviously going to misunderstand? Is it theologically accurate? When we blurt things out without thinking it through, we may cause more problems than we solve. - Keep it simple & age appropriate
Remember, you don’t have to expound on every aspect of theological significance. Summarize it and boil it down for her. - Don’t be afraid to tell her you need to think about it.
If it’s a doozy (Daddy, where do people go who don’t beleive in Jesus?) and you just don’t know how to answer. Tell her you need to think about how to explain it and that you will talk about it later. This will buy you some time to work out a good answer, but do not use it as an excuse to avoid the question. - Never deliberately misrepresent scripture to your kids.
We’re dealing with the Word of God. Difficult subjects don’t give us an excuse to twist scripture. If you misrepresent scripture to your kids not only are you a false teacher, but you’re undermining the authority of scripture to your kids, which could be devastating to their Christian walk later in life.
How firm a foundation
This kind of theological relationship with my daughter is one that I hope to cultivate through her life. When she gets older she is going to get the dose of real world and when she does I pray that this time spent with her discussing the word of God becomes her foundation for the decisions she makes as she grows up.
This week’s post is all about vocab and memorization. I’m working through chapters 5 & 6 in Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar. Chapter 4 introduced some basic grammar and chapter 6 builds upon that. Here are Some resources I’ve found helpful:
PocketScholar if you have a pocket pc or smartphone (don’t forget to download the accompanying audio.)
The free software at www.teknia.com is great.
If you don’t have access to a Greek new testament check out the Interlinear Scripture Analyzer(note: ISA defaults to all capital Greek letters which can be confusing, just go to the ‘configure’ menu option and select ‘lowercase modern font’ to fix.)
These were the top two headlines on Fox News this afternoon:
A few scriptures came to mind:
And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured.
Ezekiel 16:20You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 18:21
My first thought when I saw these headlines was that these men must have been under very strong demonic influence, which may be true, but I wonder how much of it is due to the darkness of man’s own depravity and cannot be credited to the craftiness of the enemy.
Instead of sacrificing children to Molech these men have sacrificed their families to their own idols. This kind of thing makes me long all the more for the return of our King when the hearts of fathers will be turned to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. (Malachi 4:6)
Please join in prayer for the families of the victims of these tragedies.
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.
-Saint Augustine
Series by Steve Lawson of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church
Augustine of Hippo.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
What is the Gospel by D.A. Carson
(HT: Monergism.com)
Every Book from Desiring God wil be 5 bucks June 27 & 28
13:1 Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her. 2 And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. 3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man. 4 And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” 5 Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” 6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”
7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare food for him.” 8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, where he was lying down. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. 9 And she took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Send out everyone from me.” So everyone went out from him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. 11 But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” 12 She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. 13 As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 14 But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.
15 Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up! Go!” 16 But she said to him, “No, my brother, for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me.” But he would not listen to her. 17 He called the young man who served him and said, “Put this woman out of my presence and bolt the door after her.” 18 Now she was wearing a long robe with sleeves, for thus were the virgin daughters of the king dressed. So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. 19 And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long robe that she wore. And she laid her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.
20 And her brother Absalom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this to heart.” So Tamar lived, a desolate woman, in her brother Absalom’s house. 21 When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. 22 But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar.
23 After two full years Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons. 24 And Absalom came to the king and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.” 25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing. 26 Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him. 28 Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” 29 So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.
30 While they were on the way, news came to David, “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.” 31 Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the earth. And all his servants who were standing by tore their garments. 32 But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar. 33 Now therefore let not my lord the king so take it to heart as to suppose that all the king’s sons are dead, for Amnon alone is dead.”
34 But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain. 35 And Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king’s sons have come; as your servant said, so it has come about.” 36 And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king’s sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.
37 But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day. 38 So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years. 39 And the spirit of the king longed to go out to Absalom, because he was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead. (ESV)
